Breakaway Books

Authored by Jesmyn Ward; Published 2016; Fiction

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Sometimes, reading a novel is embracing the sadness of the human experience. That’s what Sing, Unburied, Sing was for me.

In Sing, Unburied, Sing, we follow Leonie and Jojo, mother and son, as Jojo’s father is released from prison and Leonie’s mom lies dying in their home. Both of them can see the literal ghosts of their pasts, haunted by those who have gone before them. Rocked by the rejection of Jojo’s white father’s family and the suffering inflicted upon Leonie’s mother by cancer, they are both doing the best they can, with Jojo acting as de facto guardian for his toddler sister Kayla. 

I have grown to enjoy novels of magical realism even as they defy logic and explanation. The symbolism of the ghosts of generations past that follow Leonie and Jojo around feels heavy at times and nearly humorous at others. Regardless, I am reminded that we carry around those who came before us–some of us just have more weight to bear than others. For Leonie and Jojo, who have, from a historical perspective, only recently been freed and are still suffering from the mistreatment characteristic for minorities in America, it is no easy burden they have been given, but the two could not possibly deal with it more differently.

I struggled reading about Leonie, whose own mother declared that Leonie lacked the instinct to care for her children. I wanted to step through the pages and defend Jojo and Kayla as their mother picked their father over them time and time again. But my frustration with Leonie was constantly weighed against my sympathy for the bad hand she had been dealt in life. And perhaps, had Jojo not become hyper-responsible because of her actions, I would have felt more warmly toward her, but as it was, I could not help but mourn his childhood. Jojo was also dealt a bad hand, and in response, he became a fervent guardian for his little sister. He is just easier to love than Leonie is in this novel. 

The hint of magic and fantasy in Sing, Unburied, Sing does not take it out of this world. It will force you to see just how ugly society can be.